Bruce Lehrmann has denied all accusations of raping or being intimate with former political staffer Brittany Higgins in his first televised interview.
The rape charge, which was dropped after Lehrmann’s trial was aborted due to jury misconduct, dated back to March 2019 while they both worked to former defence minister Linda Reynolds.
Mr Lehrmann has consistently denied the accusations made against him.
The Spotlight episode showed CCTV footage of Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins at Canberra bar, The Dock with colleagues on March 22, before they are seen entering Ms Reynolds’ office at 1.47am. Mr Lehrmann was recorded leaving Parliament House at 2.30am.
In the interview, Mr Lehrmann said he had been “kicked to a kerb” by colleagues.
“It just infuriates me,” he said.
“I’m seeing friends of mine blocked me on facebook remove me from group chats.
“That was that was one of the worst things to see that people were dropping me because I was politically inconvenient to be associated with.”
He said he has been forced to “dip into” his mum’s superannuation and is sometimes given money by his uncle. Asked by Bartlett whether his mum believes him, Mr Lehrmann said: “Yes”.
“Every Saturday he tries to win on the horses and he has a big win. He’ll throw me some cash here and there (to) keep me afloat,” he said.
“So it’s been very tough.”
Lehrmann grilled on Higgins detail
A terse moment during the interview happened when Mr Lehrmann was grilled over why he returned to Parliament House, and why he didn’t check on Ms Higgins who was in Ms Reynolds office.
They had shared an Uber back to the office, with Mr Lehrmann claiming he had to return to fetch his keys.
“I had assumed that she (Brittany Higgins) was there also to do some work in her capacity as a media advisor,” Mr Lehrmann told Bartlett.
“My mind was focused on getting my keys, noting down what I needed to note down and getting back to my girlfriend who had called a number of times”.
Asked multiple times, why he didn’t check on Ms Higgins who he claims had gone to Ms Reynold’s office, he maintained he was making notes to prepare for Question Time.
“If we follow your line about being a gentleman, I would have thought the least you could do is just pop your head, take your two seconds and say: ‘Are you right have you finished because I’m going… do you want to just be dropped off at home?’” Bartlett quizzed.
Bartlett also asked why he was working on notes for question time, when it was days away.
Defending his actions, Mr Lehrmann said: “It was her first question time that she was about to step into”.
‘News to me, with the rest of the country’
The one-time staffer is also pressed on how Ms Higgins was found naked on Ms Reynold’s couch, given Mr Lehrmann has denied raping her or them being intimate together.
Mr Lehrmann said: “That is a great question. I mean, I don’t know. I can’t talk to that because I never saw her again. That’s that was news to me, with the rest of the country.”
Bartlett countered his response, and said: “What, disrobing on her own? Is that how she ends up naked?”
“You can see the contradiction in this.
“She’s naked on a couch, but here you are acting like a Buddhist monk, making post-it note stickers for a minister.”
He’s also asked about a photo of a bruise, Ms Higgins said she received during the alleged assault when she was pinned down by Mr Lehrmann’s leg.
Mr Lehrmann denied he was involved in the incident.
“It would appear that she’s given that to The Project to enhance the weaponisation of her sexual assault allegation. It’s pretty sick.”
Lehrmann ‘breaks his silence’
The segment was billed as the former Liberal staffer “breaking his silence” after he faced a charge of raping Ms Higgins inside the office of former defence minister Linda Reynolds. The high-profile trial was aborted due to jury misconduct and the charge was subsequently dropped.
On Tuesday, Mr Lehrmann discontinued defamation action against News Life media and news.com.au journalist Samantha Maiden following a resolution being reached between the parties. The other defendants remain in the case.
Mr Lehrmann was not named in the reports but claims he was nevertheless identified by the media companies.
Mr Lehrmann’s first media interview was with The Australian in March this year, where he said he was studying law, and had intentions of becoming a criminal barrister.
“I’m hellbent on, you know, I don’t want to stuff around being a solicitor, I want to get there to the Bar and be a barrister and help some of these people out there who have been done over the system,” he said.
“There’s so many aspects legally speaking that lawyers fundamentally, if they go back to their learnings in law school, they should be absolutely climbing the wall and be outraged.”